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In 2011, a series of anti-government uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa in what would become known as the Arab Spring. Few could predict that these convulsions, initially hailed in the West as a triumph of democracy, would give way to brutal civil war, the terrors of the Islamic State, and a global refugee crisis. But, as New York Times bestselling author Scott Anderson shows, the seeds of catastrophe had been sown long before.

In this gripping account, Anderson examines the myriad complex causes of the region's profound unraveling, tracing the ideological conflicts of the present to their origins in the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and beyond. From this investigation emerges a rare view into a land in upheaval through the eyes of six individuals-the matriarch of a dissident Egyptian family; a Libyan Air Force cadet with divided loyalties; a Kurdish physician from a prominent warrior clan; a Syrian university student caught in civil war; an Iraqi activist for women's rights; and an Iraqi day laborer-turned-ISIS fighter. A probing and insightful work of reportage, Fractured Lands offers a penetrating portrait of the contemporary Arab world and brings the stunning realities of an unprecedented geopolitical tragedy into crystalline focus. Fascinating . . . Masterly -- Sir Max Hastings, Sunday Times on Lawrence in Arabia Tremendous . . . A masterpiece -- Jan Morris, Daily Telegraph on Lawrence in Arabia Magisterial -- Amir Taheri, The Times on Lawrence in Arabia Fascinating . . . Illuminating -- New York Times on Lawrence in Arabia Gripping . . . brilliant -- William Dalrymple, New Statesman on Lawrence in Arabia Engrossing, thoughtful and intrictate -- Alex von Tunzelmann, New York Times Book Review on Lawrence in Arabia Compelling -- Washington Post on Lawrence in Arabia Thrilling -- Boston Globe on Lawrence in Arabia

Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart